Some banks support fossil-fuel production

We know that the burning of fossil fuels is the main cause of heat, wildfires, floods and hurricanes — climate change. What folks may not realize, however, is that many banks around the world, and especially some very large banks with offices in Marin County, fund fossil-fuel production to the tune of billions of dollars.

According to the Banking on Climate Change 2021 report by Rainforest Action Network, JP Morgan Chase is the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels at $317 billion since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. The report also showed that Wells Fargo was the world’s top fracking banker and, in the years following the Paris Agreement, poured $223 billion into the coal, oil and gas industry from 2016-2019.

Other well-known banks investing in fossil fuels include Citibank, which is catching up with the worst of the banks at $237 billion, and Bank of America at $198 billion. Not only do these companies invest billions into these climate-destroying practices, but they lobby with millions of their dollars to keep our congressional representatives in their back pockets.

Many of us are wondering what we can do to save the planet. Should we buy electric cars, install solar energy panels or ride bikes? These are all very good choices, but I can suggest one choice that you might not have thought of: Divest yourself from one of these banks.

I have moved from Chase credit cards and our local Wells Fargo bank to banks that are not in the fossil-fuel investment business. Is it easy? Not terribly, but it is not too hard either. We must make it hard for these companies to continue to destroy the planet.

— Deirdra Rogers, Fairfax